Fullmetal Alchemist: That Which is Within
by damaster123
Summary: Ed is bothered by bad dreams and starts to miss his friends. An encounter with a strange man sends him on a new journey. Chapter 2 up!
1. Chapter 1

Obviously a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic I made. It takes place after Conqueror of Shamballa, showing the lives of Ed, Al, and company after the Movie's end.

Chapter 1

In a flash, General Roy Mustang fell to the ground- a quick slash of the Führer's blade sent a stream of blood jetting out of the General's eye. As he collapsed the world flashed white. The light dimmed and Winry was the only person in his view, "Ed, I'm sorry my Automail's not good enough." she sobbed and ran into the distance. Again the world flashed a brilliant white and the homunculus Envy stood on top of the bodies of Maes Hughes and Hohenheim of Light. He stood smirking. The white light shone again. When the light faded Alphonse was being torn apart by the limbs and being pulled into a large door by small black beings. This time the entire world turned black and he fell down a dark void.

Ed shot up from his sleep. He was soaked in sweat, and panting like a dog. He looked down at his false right arm and took a deep breath. He hadn't had such a frightening dream in ages. He pulled off the blankets and stepped out of his bed. He quickly showered and changed then headed down stairs for breakfast. It was Al's turn to cook breakfast and Al was always the better cook.

"Yo, Alphonse!" he shouted, "What's for breakfast, I've been dying for eggs!" As he reached the bottom of the staircase Al called back, "Well I'm not cooking today, Brother." Ed had confused look on his face, "Come on Al, don't be lazy. Noa'll be upset if there's no food."

"We're going out for breakfast." He replied. Ed stood there, confused. "Oh, come on brother." Al said, "You haven't honestly forgotten that today's your birthday, have you?" Ed's expression turned quickly to a smirk, "Of course not! What kind of a bonehead do you think I am?" Al snickered, "I planned on leaving for the Goldenes Schwein once Noa woke up."

Ed looked at him, "The Goldenes Schwein?" he asked, "Wow Alhponse. You didn't have to do this." Al smiled back, "I know brother, but your 19th birthday doesn't come along everyday. I wanted it to be special."

Noa awoke a few minutes later and the three headed to the Goldenes Schwein, one of the nicest restaurants in the city. "Ed," Noa said, "can you tell me more about your home? Your and Al's home?" Ed looked at her for a moment then thought. "Well like I've said, it's a lot like this one, but your technology has far surpassed ours and we have alchemy."

"I know," Noa said, "I want to know about your friends, if it's ok."

Ed looked up into the sky. He thought of his teacher, Izumi Curtis, General Armstrong, Major Armstrong, the passed Brigadier General Hughes, and Winry. He remembered the dream he had the past night and all of a sudden he recalled just how much he missed them. Noa knew Ed didn't want to talk about it at the moment. Just as well, as they were near the restaurant.

"Ah, here we are!" said Al, trying to lighten the mood. Ed returned to his laid-back self, "Well let's go in then- I'm starving!"

They approached the front door as loud boom came from a nearby building. Bricks fell from a hole in the wall and scattered along the road. A smug dirty-looking man walked out of the building with a bag of money.

"Geez, how cliché." Said Ed, looking deeply at the thief, "ready for some vigilante work, Al?" Al nodded and the two brothers clapped their hands in unison. There was a pause and finally they both sighed. Ed ran after the thief and Al quickly followed, "You never know how much you appreciate alchemy…" he murmured to himself as he pulled back for a punch to the thief's face. He missed with his huge punch and lost his balance, almost tipping over. Al came to his brother's aid, but Ed tore from his grip and chased after him again.

The thief turned as the chase headed down the next block, "What's the matter shrimp, can't ca---?" Ed didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence, "WHO'RE YOU CALL'IN A PUNY MIDGET SO SMALL YOU NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE HIM!?" "He didn't say that!" Al called back.

Ed started running twice as fast. He caught up to the thief and threw him into a dark alley to the right of them. The thief tried to get to his feet but was pushed back down by Ed who had a fire burning in his eyes as he glared down at the thief. Ed looked at the hand where the money was and saw nothing. Al came running up the alley, "Ed, he dropped the money. Once you started running like that after the shrimp comment, he tried to escape without it."

Ed blushed in embarrassment slightly. He got up off the thief, "Get out of here before the cops show up. "You!" exclaimed the thief, "You're the one I'm looking for!"

Ed stared at him again, this time with a look of confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're the one master told me about! Edward Elric! Son of Hohenheim!" the thief jumped up and grabbed Ed by the shoulders in excitement, "Though you really are a lot smaller than I thought…" Ed abruptly shouted, "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND SHORT JOKES!?"

The man bowed down before Ed, "Please forgive me." He said, "I need to do this because I knew it would get your attention. I need to ask you something." Ed was still just as confused, "What?"

"Please teach me your mystical alchemy!" he begged. Ed looked down at him surprised and even more confused, "How do you know about alchemy?" he asked. "My master is a famed Iraqi alchemist. He told me you crossed the gate TWICE and learned alchemy from masters in Shamballa!"

Ed's eyes widened, he grasped the thief by the collars, "Who is this master? Is it Bradley!? Tell me where he is!"

"Please great alchemist, you must teach me your legendary alchemy!" Ed finally came to his senses and put the thief down. "Of course, Bradley is a homunculus, so he can't do alchemy" he said to himself. He redirected his attention to the thief, "I should've said this from the start, alchemy is impossible here, in your world. Surely your master told you that."

The thief sank to his knees in shock. "He told me looking for you was pointless, but I couldn't believe it. I need alchemy… My family is going to starve!" he was weeping his face in his hands. "Well why wouldn't you run off with the money you stole?" Ed asked. "Don't be foolish! Your German currency is worthless in my country."

"Wait, you said you were from Iraq right?" Ed asked. "Yes. We are very poor and I need alchemy to feed my family. That's why I trained under my master- to perhaps one day learn alchemy." Ed smiled, "I'm a collector of rare coins, I'm sure I have a decent amount Iraqi money. I could give it to you."

The thief rose again, "Honestly?" Ed replied, "Of course. Just follow me to my apartment and I'll give it to you. "Oh thank you! Thank you master alchemist!" the thief said ecstatically, "I almost forgot, my master wanted me to give you a message- he can help you r-" the thief stopped short in his sentence and gasped dryly for air as he collapsed to the ground.

Ed turned, and standing at the end of the alley was Officer Hughes. Ed ran to him, "What are you doing?" he yelled, "He's just a thief is that really deserving of death? He was about to tell me something important!" Hughes had an overwhelmed look on his face as he replied, "I-I'm sorry Ed, he was a convicted killer and robber. He had to be stopped"

Ed calmed down, fell to the ground and sat. "There's so much a famous alchemist could've helped me with. Now I'll never know what it was." He said quietly and depressed. Al sat next to him and sighed, "Well he was a criminal- for all we know he could've been lying about the whole 'master' thing to escape with some money." Ed thought about it. Al was right- criminals can't be trusted. But something about meeting another alchemist just made him remember his old friends again. He started to tear.

Once things had seemed to quiet down, Noa came into the alley to find the weeping Ed next to Al while Officer Hughes walked away. She offered Ed her hand with a smiling face. It reminded Ed of his mother, which raised his mood slightly. He put his hand in hers and stood up with Al at his side.

The three started to walk home, but as they passed the Goldenes Schwein, Ed said, "So our breakfast plans are over? I'm still hungry as hell!" his two friends looked at him and smiled. They turned and went into the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed sat up in his room later that night, contemplating about the strange day he had just gone through. He wondered why anyone in this world would be studying alchemy anyway, since it's impossible here. All this thought about his home made him miss his friends even more. His door opened and Al walked in.

"Brother, are you ok?" he asked, sounding concerned. Ed nodded with a blank expression, holding back his strong emotions he didn't want his brother to see again. "I've just been thinking, why would there be an alchemist here where alchemy is impossible?"

"I've been thinking about that too." Al replied, "I don't even know how he would've known about alchemy."

Ed looked up at Al, "Well how he gained his knowledge isn't important. We need to find this 'Master' and learn everything he knows about alchemy in this world."

"Ed let's not get in over our heads." Al replied, "Officer Hughes said that he was a serial killer- he could've made up that excuse to throw you off." Ed replied strongly, almost yelling, "Then how did _he_ find out about alchemy? We need to go to the library first thing tomorrow to learn more about what people in this world know about alchemy. There has to be one book that has a name of a specific alchemist."

Al knew firsthand that when his brother put his mind to something there was no stopping him. "Ok brother, but get some sleep." Ed calmed down a bit and nodded, "Ok, night Al." "Night Ed." And Al left the room.

Ed tossed and turned in his bed, having a similar dream to the one he had the previous night. He was drenched in his own sweat and he rocketed up from his sleep. He was again panting heavily and brushed off his forehead with his arm. He looked at his pocket watch- 8:00 A.M. He wouldn't have had the watch had it not been for Al. He remembered…

"It'll be a challenge to remove that circle without alchemy." "Yeah," Al said, "but we can do it together."

Ed thought for a moment, "Al pass me the armor's head!" He promptly ran to the armor and threw the head to his brother. Ed continued to hurry over to a puddle on the side of the room. He filled the head with water and went back over to Al.

"There. Now we just need to get up to the ceiling and rub off some of the markings on that transmutation circle."

"But how are we going to get up there?" said Al. Ed again went into a deep thinking state. He saw two broken pieces of metal in the corner. He ran over and put the head in his teeth and the metal pieces in his hands. He shoved the first piece of metal into the old delicate wall. He used the pieces of metal to climb up the wall, though this was tougher than he thought it would be. The metal head made his gums sting in pain and his arms were aching from the climbing. But success was within reach. He was a few feet from the circle. Ed held onto one piece of metal and put the head in his free hand.

He was about to throw the head when he remembered all he would be leaving behind by washing away the circle. Izumi, the State Alchemists, Winry. But there was no turning back now.

He pulled his arm back and with one faithful throw, tossed the head at the circle. It worked and enough of the circle was washed away for the portal to vanish.

Ed breathed an unusual sigh of relief and depression. He yelled down to Al, "Um… How do I get down?"

Al yelled back, "Throw me your shirt!" Ed complied and tore off then threw his shirt down to Al. He stretched out into a misshapen tarp of sorts. He held onto one end and nailed the other end into the wall with one of the pieces of metal Ed dropped. He yelled, "Ed! Jump! It'll break your fall!"

Ed, seeing no other way, jumped into the cloth. It obviously didn't hold for much time at all and Ed was badly cut and bruised, but without it, he would've died.

While Al supported his brother on the way out of the castle, he held out his closed hand to Ed. When he opened it, a shiny silver circle was revealed. "I made a point to give you this. Rose told me it was yours."

Ed took the watch and smiled at Al, "Thanks, bro."

Ed got out of bed and walked downstairs. Al was cooking breakfast since he didn't have to the day before. Al placed the eggs in front of Ed, Noa and his own table setting. Al and Noa quickly began to eat, but Ed sat with a deep expression upon his face. Al seemed concerned, "Is something wrong, Ed?"

"I… I really need to get to the library. Save my food for me, I'll have it when I get back." Ed left the apartment and pulled out his car keys. He opened the car's door, started the engine and headed for the library.

Once he reached the library he hurried up the stone stairs and pushed open the double doors. He was almost at a running pace because of his excitement, and a librarian promptly shouted, "No running!" Ed came to a halt. He blushed a little and walked rather quickly to the huge shelves in the main area. He spent a long time reading books related to two subjects- Iraq and Alchemy. Everything from former rulers to theories on the unknown art of transmutation was there but not much info on specific people who practiced alchemy.

Ed slammed his palms to his head, "Damn it!" he shouted, sitting in a pile of books scattered across the floor. The librarian yelled again, "Watch it, kid!" Ed calmed down, but was still mad, "I can't find out anything about this guy. You'd think someone studying such a marvelous science would have a biography or two." Just then, Ed looked down and saw one last book he hadn't opened yet. "'The Alchemists of the Middle East'" Ed read quietly aloud. He opened it quickly, overlooking small details in the opening of the book, he finally came across several names, but one stuck out distinctly from the rest. "Al-Zari" Ed said, "An Iraqi alchemist known for his many apprentices and followers, he has studied much about alchemy. How he knows the many secrets of alchemy, or if these secrets are even real is unknown, but he is the most revered alchemist in Iraq." He closed the book having finished the article, "So there are multiple alchemist in Iraq?" he pondered for a moment, "Whatever, I gotta tell Al!"

Ed ran out of the library with newfound energy. "What did I tell you about running!?" the librarian yelled, "And are you gonna put those away!?"

Ed didn't care, suddenly the world was perfect to him. He wanted to jump if he wasn't so busy running to his car. As he was dashing through the doors he crashed into Officer Hughes.

Ed put his hand to his head and looked up at Officer Hughes who was extending a helping hand. Ed grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, "Good day Officer Hughes! How's it going?" Ed asked, wearing a broad smile. But Officer Hughes just stood with a serious expression. "What's wrong, Officer?" Ed asked, getting more serious. "Ed I'm going to be blunt; you can't mess with alchemy."

Ed's eyes widened in shock, "How did you-"

"All standard officers and up know about your business with the Gate, Ed.", Officer Hughes interrupted.

Ed's shock grew, just when he thought it was at its greatest, "WHA-"

"Ever since that alchemist wannabe spoke with you in the alleyway, Central Command wanted me to spy on you to make sure you weren't going to be trying more alchemy. They think you're a possible threat."

"But I helped to stop the Nazis dominate the world! Why am I a threat?" Ed asked, outraged. "You saw what alchemy almost did to this country, Ed." Hughes said, "I know that you just want to meet with that master. Am I right?"

Ed stared at Hughes, "So you heard that entire conversation?" he said, a little more calmly. Hughes simply nodded.

"Wait," Ed said suspiciously, "you told Central Command about that?" "Hey I needed a story for killing a man- and this country isn't any better off with its officers lying to higher ups."

"You needed a story?" Ed retorted, "So he wasn't a serial killer- you just killed him because he was an alchemist!" "I told you, alchemy has brought nothing but bad things to this country- O thought he was gonna use alchemy to hurt you or some other people."

Ed sighed, "Well no need to worry- alchemy is impossible here. That portal was under special circumstances."

Hughes looked confused, "Then why do you want to meet this master?"

Ed thought, "I don't know. I guess I'm a blind hopeful." There was silence.

"Good bye, Officer Hughes." Ed said glumly. He started to walk off until, "Ed wait!" Hughes stopped him. He turned around. "Take this." He said holding out his hand. In it was a large amount of money. Ed looked confused, "What is this?"

"Think of it as a 'see-ya-later' present'." Hughes said. "If you're planning on meeting that master in Iraq, you'll need money to get there."

"But what about alchemy being bad and Central Command?" Ed asked, confused.

"Look, I know I said that, but I always knew you were never a threat. Lying to Central Command about this little incident won't be a problem- I'll tell them you've moved away. They'll still be looking for you, but they'll struggle greatly to find you."

Ed looked up with a smile again, "Thanks, Officer Hughes!" he took the money, "Please, call me Maes."

Ed kept smiling broadly, "Thanks, Maes."


End file.
